The cost of living topic made me wonder what people eat at home when they cook. I want to learn how to cook, but have no idea with Korean food. I can make rice. I'm tired of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and cereal. What else do people cook and how do you do it? Isn't it hard cooking for one?

Joined: 20 Jan 2003Location: Ecuador...until April 1...then back to the Soul of Seoul

Posted: Sun Mar 02, 2003 5:28 am Post subject: cookbook and packages

You're in Seoul, right? The bookstore in coex has a korean cookbook in english called a Korean Mothers...something...notebook or cookbook. It is in the aisle with the learning korean language books. It has some easy recipes with stuff you can get at the local market. Make the whole recipe and freeze it, or make half the recipe.

Also, if you like jigae, there are packets of the sauce that are cheap and tasty. They are usually in the refrig section. They are pulmuone(spelling?) brand. They have a picture of jigae with an egg yolk on them. You cut open the pack, pour it in a pot, add a pack full of water and go. You can add an egg or tofu or spinach or meat or we really like it with the soft noodles, also usually in the refrig section. Try some lemon too.

Well, if I want Korean either my wife makes it or we eat out. Korean is often too complicated to eat at home. But if I want western, then I bbq some sausages or make a nice cheesy sausage pizza. Thank god for ovens, even one that is 3 inches tall... When I was single I rarely cooked at home--usually it was chicken. If you don't have a gas stove you could buy one of those portable units, and make soups and ramyun, or fry bulgogi/kalbi in a frying pan, or stir fry using veggies and those great cheap boneless chicken brests (intentional mispelling--actually I mean breasts, but apparently chicken breasts are x-rated )

the best cooking, for feeling good and being cheap, i've done at home was to have a rice cooker and the side-dishes in plastic containers in the fridge. those little fish i'd buy(the dried little ones) and mix with kochu paste and corn syrup and put that in a plastic, lidded container in the fridge. and the other side dishes available at the sort of 'korean side-dish deli' at the department store where one can buy it by the gram. and tofu. the blocks of it bought cheap from the ajumma market where i got the rice and the 'little dried fish'. keeping the tofu in a container of water submersing it and changing the water every day, in the fridge. varying the 'lots' of sidedishes as stuff gets eaten up, for a change. the rice cooker always having rice in it, ready to go. opening cans of tuna, too. sometimes making 'kimchee chee geh' at home on the gas range. throwing tofu into that, too.

We have been eating loads of Korean food at home!!
Denjang Chige is easy to make, you can buy the Denjang sauce at the corner store. Add two tablespoons to a saucepan of water and add in any vegies and/or tofu. The best vegies to add are zuccini and other soft vegies.

There are other sauces too, some that you can marinate meat in (my husband does all the cooking so I cant tell you all the names;))

You can buy the packet soups, they are yummmmmy!! the re-hydrated fish soups are the best as the fish is very tasty. Just make the soup (add water) and serve with rice! Cheap and tasty!!

Another favourite is cooking squid (or chicken or any salted fish) with soy sauce!! Its simple and delicious!!

You can also buy terriaki sauce in most large supermarkets, marrinate the chicken for as long as you can, its super yummy!!

I finally went shopping for real for the first time in about 3 months tonight. So I refreshed all my top home foods.

Spaghetti-Bachelor's dream, but I actually ate so much spaghetti that I think I developed acid reflux. Since I stopped eating spaghetti, it's gotten a lot better. Still, dependable and easy.
Chicken Stirfry-This just has so many possibilities and variations. Change sauces, change veggies, with or without meat, change seasonings, yea, it's handy to know how to make some stirfry. I actually don't fry it though; I simmer it for a long time in the frying pan. Hell, I cook everything slowly...
Baked Beans-If you can find a can, it makes a quick dinner, beats eating PB&J every day.
Grilled Cheese-I only recommend this with Velveeta, though. Add some fair-quality ham for flavor. You could even fry the ham lightly before you make the sandwich.
Toasted Sandwich-It's a lot harder to make in Korea, because so many of the ingredients are hard to come by, but if you have a toaster oven and a frying pan, you can technically make it. Toast the bread, retoast it lightly with cheese added, fry up any meats in the frying pan, add veggies and seasonings.
Hash Browns-Again, if you can find them. I'm lucky in that the local E-Mart carries these bad boys. Just slap 2-4 patties in the frying pan and heat. You can mash 'em, eat 'em as patties, add to something else, whatever. Simply awesome.
Mashed Potatoes-Won't give any hints, but making a damn fine bowl of mashed taters'll make ya giddy, if you like 'em.
Can of Veggies-Corn, peas, stuff like that. Just throw a can in a pot with seasonings and eat it alone. Likewise, peel some carrots and eat 'em raw.
Fat French Fries-Take whole potatoes, cut into big chunks, add oil to the pan along with various seasonings, and fry. Not my own design, but the guy who made them did a good job.

By rotating this menu, and eating out once or twice a week, I can keep the menu interesting enough. As far as Korean foods go...just go to a restaurant. Or buy a cookbook.

When I lived alone here I made lots of different kinds of spagetti sauce, soups, stews, curries, and the like. I made large batches and froze the leftovers in serving-size containers. Then when I was busy all I had to do was get bread or make rice or pasta to go with. If you are interested in cooking there are lots of websites with all kinds of recipes and tips. I like www.epicurious.com, or you can go to www.google.com and do a search it you want a particular recipe. That's where I got my recipe for butterscotch pudding.

Man, from most of this it looks like if you want good cooking at home you gotta get married to do it ... cabbit's suggestions are good, I notice, but it also appears that most people are eating as poorly as I do. A saving grace about this country is that eating out is not a lot more expensive than fixing things at home, though.

I eat alot of tofu, marinated for a couple of hours in: soysauce, peanut butter, brown sugar, sesame oil, vinegar and ginger. Add some veggies, garlic and onions when cooking, serve over lettuce, rice or noodles. Fresh asian pears are delicious in this. You also can drain and fry tofu, then cook it in tomato sauce, and peppers 'creole style'.

I order salsa, cheddar and torts from www.grocerymall.net and make quesadillas. The salsa and cheddar make great omelettes too.

Mashed potatoes are a nice down home favorite with some sauteed mushrooms and some chicky nuggets from the corner dive.

Of course, there's spagetti; add some red wine for a zesty flavor. You can always fry some fresh fish, or buy tempera from a stand/grocery store and add it to rice.